Argument Research Paper Assignment

Here is a pdf file for the assignment. ENGL101ArgumentAssgnmt

Description: This project requires you to write an extensively researched argument paper. You might choose something about your topic that is controversial that you wish to argue or debate. You may also decide that you have identified a problem in your topic that you can offer a solution for (this would be a proposal argument). Perhaps someone has written something about your topic that you wish to refute (show how the other side is wrong). Whatever you choose to address, you should be thinking about how to persuade your audience to do something differently, whether that means to rethink their beliefs or to act in some way. This paper is persuasive in nature, and therefore should also be in tone.

You will need to begin with a claim of some kind (which becomes your thesis). This is your position on your topic. After you make a claim, you must be able to back it up with evidence. This is where your research comes in. You will need to show (through your writing) how the evidence supports your position. Your conclusion should be a culmination of the ideas that you present to show what can be logically concluded (or reasoned) from the evidence you’ve presented.

Guidelines:

• Make sure that your claim is something that can be argued. If you can’t support it in an adequate, valid way, it is simply an opinion.
• Consider your appeals to your audience (ethos, pathos, logos). You’ll need to build your own ethos (by using good sources and by making a good argument), but you’ll also need to decide what other appeals will be effective persuasion for your audience. Remember that facts alone are not always the most persuasive appeals.
• Choose a title that works with the content of your essay. In other words, your title becomes another opportunity to get our audience to start thinking about your points.
• Organize you arguments to be the most effective. For example, ending on the strongest point gives your reader the biggest impact at the end rather than early in. Putting strong points too early can make a paper lackluster and therefore the argument becomes weakened.
• You should at least mention the counter-arguments to your position, but be careful not to argue FOR the opposition.
• Using 8 to 10 sources, your essay should be between 2900 and 3500 words (or approximately 8 to 10 pages).
• As with the last several papers, you should be including summary, quotation, and paraphrase.
• MLA style must be followed, including in-text citations and a Works Cited list.
• Sources should be reputable and make sense to the overall purpose of your argument. In other words, don’t use sources simply because they are on your annotated bibliography. If you need other sources, then you should go find them. DO NOT use reviews, opinion pieces, or personal accounts as good support for “facts.”
• Submit essay on the last day of class in both paper and e-mail form (as usual).